Mathematical story

Euler is a famous mathematician in the history of mathematics. He has made outstanding achievements in several branches of mathematics, such as number theory, geometry, astronomical mathematics and calculus. However, this great mathematician was not liked by teachers at all when he was a child. He is a student expelled from school.

Things are caused by stars. At that time, little Euler was studying in a missionary school. Once, he asked the teacher how many stars there were in the sky. The teacher is a believer in theology. He doesn't know how many stars there are in the sky, and the Bible doesn't answer. In fact, there are countless stars in the sky, which are infinite. There are thousands of stars visible to the naked eye. Without pretending to understand, the teacher replied to Euler, "It doesn't matter how many stars there are in the sky, as long as you know that the stars in the sky are inlaid by God."

Euler felt very strange: "The sky is so big and so high, and there is no escalator on the ground. How did God embed the stars on the screen one by one? " God himself put them in the sky one by one. Why did he forget the number of stars? Could God be too careless?

He asked the teacher a question in his heart, and the teacher was confused again, blushed and didn't know how to answer. A sudden anger rose in the teacher's heart, not only because a child who just went to school asked the teacher such a question, so that the teacher could not step down, but more importantly, the teacher regarded God above everything else. Little Euler blames God for not remembering the number of stars. The implication is that he doubts almighty god. In the teacher's view, this is a serious problem.

In Euler's time, there was absolutely no doubt about God. People can only be slaves of ideas, and they are absolutely not allowed to think freely. Little Euler didn't "keep in line" with the church and God, so the teacher told him to leave school and go home. However, in little Euler's mind, the sacred aura of God disappeared. God is a loser, he thought. Why can't he even remember the stars in the sky? He thought, God is a dictator, and even asking questions has become a crime. He thinks that God may be a guy made up by others and does not exist at all.

After returning home, he helped his father herd sheep and became a shepherd boy. He read a book while herding sheep. Among the books he read, there are many math books.

Dad's flock increased gradually, reaching 100. The original sheepfold was a little small, so my father decided to build a new sheepfold. He measured a rectangular piece of land with a ruler, 40 meters long and 15 meters wide. He calculated that the area is exactly 600 square meters, with an average of 6 square meters per sheep. When he was ready to start construction, he found that his materials were only enough for the fence of 100 meters, which was not enough at all. If you want to enclose a sheepfold with a length of 40m and a width of 15m, its circumference is110m (15+15+40+40 =1/kloc-0). If we want to build it according to the original plan, my father feels very embarrassed. If the area is reduced, the area of each sheep is less than 6 square meters.

Little Euler told his father that there was no need to shrink the sheepfold and not to worry that the territory of each sheep would be smaller than originally planned. He has an idea. Father didn't believe that little Euler would have a way, so he ignored him. Little Euler was in a hurry and said loudly, only moving a little stake in the sheepfold.

Father shook his head and thought, "How can there be such a cheap thing in the world?" However, little Euler insisted that he would be able to kill two birds with one stone. The father finally agreed to let his son try.

Little Euler saw his father agree, stood up and ran to the sheepfold to get ready to start work. He shortened the original side length of 40 meters to 25 meters centered on the stake. The father was anxious and said, "How can that be done? Then how to do it? This sheepfold is too small, too small. " Little Euler didn't answer, so he ran to the other side and extended the original side length of15m, and increased it by10m to 25m. In this way, the original planned sheepfold has become a square with a side length of 25 meters. Then, little Euler confidently said to his father, "Now, the fence is enough and the area is enough."

Father built a fence according to the sheepfold designed by little Euler. 100 meter fence is really enough, no more, no less, all used up. The area is enough, a little bigger. Father felt very happy. Children are smarter than themselves, they really use their brains, and they will definitely have a bright future.

Father thinks it's a pity to let such a clever child herd sheep. Later, he tried to let little Euler know the great mathematician Bernoulli. On the recommendation of mathematicians, little Euler became a college student in university of basel on 1720. This year, little Euler 13 was the youngest student in this university.